Nagasaki has joined other cities in the race for the IR license. Like the other regions, Nagasaki is hopeful that it will earn the coveted license and get the privilege of building an IR. The rush for the license follows the economic boost that regions will get when the casinos begin operations.
One of Japan’s cabinet ministers in a statement confirmed that there were a total of eight locations in the bidding of the IR with some of them having announced their interest even before the announcement. The statement had been issued before Kitakyushu City had joined the mix.
As for Nagasaki, its application had been announced on November 20th.
Minister of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism Kazuyoshi Akaba commented that the cities expect to win one of the three licenses that will be issued in two years’ time. The government had announced that the application process would start in 2021.
Nagasaki, on the other hand, had launched its request on October 2nd. The city presented its Request for Concept (RFC) which featured the development of an integrated resort (IR) to be situated in Huis Ten Bosch, Sasebo.
Nagasaki’s RFC will feature a detailed business plan, facility designs, operations policy guidelines as well as a sustainable countermeasure plan for problem gambling. With responsible gambling as a recent trend, the city seems to be well-equipped in this regard.
Following the city’s application, several operators have expressed their interest as well. Some of the operators are local companies but foreign investors have outnumbered them. Some of the foreign companies interested in building a casino in the city include; NagaCorp, Casinos Austria, Peermont Global and Get Nice Holdings.
Since the Japanese government announced that the application process will commence in January 2021, companies are in a hurry to get their applications in order. Some are already partnering with third-party companies to develop plans.
Early this year, the IR requirements had been communicated. Some of these requirements cited by CalvinAyre.com are; hotels should measure no less than 100, 000 square meters in floor space, the largest international conference room capacity should hold more than 1000 people, the facility’s capacity should double the largest conference room and 3% of the total floor space should be located to gaming.
With the timeline in place, the interested cities have ample time to develop strategic plans as well as guidelines as to why they should get the license.
In Nagasaki, officials have set the deadline for firms and businesses to participate in the RFC phase at November 22nd. However, they have announced that those who missed participating in this phase will still have a chance to take part in the request for proposal phase (RFP).
A budget for the IR plan has already been set by the Nagasaki government. According to the officials, the estimated cost for the design and development will range from $3 billion and $5 billion. This figure is bound to change during the course of time until the license approval phase.
